By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Status, dynamics, form and the significance of results were the criteria for ranking the 16 teams.
Here’s the story so far, with 15 games left for the end of the regular season.
#16 DARUSSAFAKA TEKFEN ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 2-13
At home: 2-6
Away: 0-7
Offense-Defense: 75.9-85.1
With 12 defeats in a row, Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul were about to break every negative record in the competition, but fate owed them at least one win and gave it to them when everyone least expected it, against Olympiacos Piraeus (79-75). It’s just that one for the moment, so last place in the rankings is still theirs, as it has been since Round 7. With Toney Douglas having gotten straight to work – he’s now first in the team in points (12.8) and assists (5.2) – Darussafaka like to believe that more wins are not far off. Until then, it will have the EuroLeague’s second-worst offense (although the first with 12.5 offensive rebounds per game), the third-worst defense, and the worst assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3), among other things.
#15 BUDUCNOST VOLI PODGORICA
Previous ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 3-12
At home: 3-5
Away: 0-7
Offense-Defense: 72.5-84.3
Four consecutive defeats brought Buducnost VOLI Podgorica back to a harsh reality and made the wins over KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (99-84, Round 7), CSKA Moscow (93-92, Round 9) and FC Barcelona Lassa (67-64, Round 11) look like a distant memory. Now, Aleksandar Dzikic has been replaced on the bench by Jasmin Repesa. Perhaps things would have been different if Buducnost had been able to hold out in the last game against FC Bayern Munich (93-88); the newly-acquired duo of Norris Cole and Goga Bitadze certainly tried. Maybe, too, if the team didn’t also own the worst offense and fourth-worst defense, but you can’t go very far with maybes.